Melody
by emmadotlouise
Summary: Doomed to spending life with two faces, Kinomoto Sakura doesn’t experience happiness very often. By day, she spends life as a human. By night, she becomes a phoenix. All seems dim, but there’s always hope... right? AU Chapter 3: Transformation of Hope
1. Kaze's Disappearance

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Disclaimer: I don't own CCS. I never have and I never will. However, I do own this plot, so please! No taking!

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Summary: Doomed to spending life with two faces, Kinomoto Sakura doesn't experience happiness very often. By day, she spends life as a human. By night, she becomes a phoenix. All seems dim, but there's always hope... right? **AU** ~Chapter 1: Kaze's Disappearance~

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Notes: Um... okay. Some of you are going to shoot me for not updating **Wishing Well** and **Footprints in the Sand**. Sorry! *ducks flying objects* But this idea has been rolling around in my head for the longest time and if I don't get it down on paper soon, it won't be there anymore! I swear, I'll update the other two soon! I promise! I just had an inspiration flash and I've been able to write well for the past few days, so I'm furiously writing the next chapters. **Footprints in the Sand** is a random fanfic that I'll update when I have nothing better to do, and when I can write humour, because that's pretty much what it is. **Wishing Well**, well that's more angst/action more than anything. Anyhow, new chapter!

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Rising of the Phoenix: Melody

A swish of a cloak quickly followed the noises of the currently scared girl. Her fearful eyes darted to all cracks and crevices that she might be able to escape through. Being so small, she should be able to get through them. She was hardly able to move much because of the crowds that bustled around her. Coming to the city had been a terrible mistake. She was going to pay for it dearly.

If only her guardians were here... Amber, the young girl that now protected her, had fabled powers, powers that most people never dreamed of having. She only had one purpose for them though, to protect the phoenix of the tower.

At first sight, this young girl didn't seem like much, but that was not to be misled. Amber, why, she could bring a hundred men to their knees with a simple glance. She was absolutely brilliant at mind control, and her father, the man who had protected the phoenix before her, had taught her all that he had known. It was a blessing to be of his blood. The one thing that surprised her the most was easily the fact that this phoenix, the sacred phoenix of the tower, was a young girl.

As a baby, she had always watched the phoenix sleeping; her eyes wide open with awe. She'd yearned to fly, and wondered what it would be like to be this phoenix. Her father had told her that the life wasn't all that great, but still, she had wondered. She knew the legend of this phoenix, everyone did, but it didn't really explain the phoenix's presence on this earth. Everything had a purpose, as Amber was currently finding out.

She had discovered her purpose, protecting the phoenix, but she yearned to explore the world. She was bound to her duties; it was in her family's blood to do this. The very protecting powers from her ancestors flowed through her veins. For as long as she could remember, they had been protecting her, even after her half-transformation.

Clow Reed, easily the most powerful sorcerer of all time, had cast a spell, granting one of the phoenix's wishes, or part thereof anyway. He had cast a spell that would let her become human, as long as the sun was shining, with her phoenix powers suppressed. However, when the sun set, she became phoenix again. It was nearly twilight now, and Amber was keeping a close eye on what was going on. Even one sign that showed that they were going to harm the phoenix-girl, and Amber would be down there faster than the speed of sound.

One of Amber's abnormal gifts included that of the ability to turn herself into light and travel at over 300,000 kilometres per second. She never travelled anywhere that she didn't have to and the phoenix was meant to be kept in sight at all times, so that was what she did. A drink of water would have been nice right about now, but she didn't have time to go get one. Too much to do. Amber cracked her knuckles and smiled in anticipation of the coming battle. 

She hadn't fought for a while, and even though the guards were a pitiful challenge, they were still fun to play around with for a time. Call it fun, call it amusement, she really didn't care. She enjoyed the fights, and it was one of the advantages of being a guardian for such a sacred creature. There was always someone trying to capture the phoenix. The fights had been quite meager lately, so Amber was getting quite bored.

A flick of her hand and they were slammed against a wall, instantly falling unconscious from the impact. No challenge... not the best way to start a fearful reputation... but it had its merits sometimes. Amber guessed that she could call them target practice, after all, that was what she used them for. 

Not many of them wanted to find her now, the majority of them were probably wanting the glory and credit for killing the great guardian, Amber Sazaki. That wasn't gonna happen, not ever. Besides, if it did, that phoenix had no hope of surviving. The phoenix was bound to her blood. It had been that way from the very beginning and she wasn't about to change that. 

Even Amber's younger brother, Satu, protected the phoenix... when he felt like it. That wasn't often though and Amber pretty much always was left with the job. The phoenix was always getting into trouble, particularly in her human form, and that wasn't such a great thing.

Amber shook her head. She had to concentrate. As a human, the phoenix was very fragile. Worse still, she became partly mortal. If she were struck in any place, aside from her heart, with a physical attack, she would heal. However, if she were hit in the heart by an arrow, a spear... she would die. It was that simple.

Amber had seen the girl leaving the tower that morning, and she had followed her to this city. It didn't take long for her to reach the city, even if she had to cross the Harisryu region. All she had to do was think of her phoenix form and she was able to fly as fast as her inner phoenix counterpart. It was quite hard to maintain the speed at most times, but she tried.

The guards advanced on the phoenix-girl, their swords extended, their faces hard, and their emotions in check. They couldn't afford to lose this girl again, or they would lose their jobs. She'd been causing too much trouble for them lately. Stealing food... they knew that she had only been giving it to the poor, and it was such a shame that they had to kill someone so young, but an offence was an offence, and stealing was one of them.

"Come here," one of the guards said, "and we won't hurt you."

Amber felt that it was time to intervene. She stood up, her brown eyes narrowed, hard and icy. Her stare was as cold as the unseasonal snow that sparkled around them. "Phoenix, stay there," she stated before gracefully jumping from the building that she was perched on and landing on her feet. "Now, which one of you loons wants to lost first?" Amber asked.

"Phoenix?" one guard muttered and turned his eyes to look at the girl that they had been chasing. How could she be the sacred phoenix? She was just a normal human, or was she?

"Three on one isn't fair," Amber said. "Especially when the girl that you're contesting with is just a human."

"And what about you?" another guard asked. "Aren't you just a normal human like us too?"

An evil smile came over Amber's face. "As a matter of fact, no, I'm not. I'm the guardian of the phoenix of the tower in Harisryu region."

"Harisryu region? The desert region?" the same guard asked.

"I owe you a few claps. You know your geography. I'm surprised that someone with your brains and status would know something like that." Amber put her hands on her hips and cocked her head. "And it ain't often that anyone surprises me. You should count yourself lucky. You did good."

"Coming from the guardian of the phoenix, that must be a good thing."

"Yeah, it is, but I'm afraid that I'm gonna have to kick your ass now." Amber smiled and got herself back in a fighting stance.

"Why?" the guard asked.

"Because," Amber replied, "you endangered the life of the phoenix, and anything that endangers the life of the phoenix also endangers my life."

"Shit," one guard mumbled.

"We're dead," another said.

"Yeah," the other agreed. All three were shaking.

"This should be easy," Amber mumbled to herself. "I've fought tougher people than this. It should be like taking candy from a baby."

Amber put both hands out in front of her; air swirling between them until it became a churning ball of wind. She lurched it to the ground and Amber was suddenly suspended in mid-air. For moments, time passed as she glowed a radiant shade of cyan. The guards were too stunned and awed to move.

Amber emerged with wings of cyan and hair the colour of sunlight. An old-style robe covered her body. A brown rope wove its way through the robe and it was tightest at the waist, to keep the robe together. The robe was made of a light material that fluttered in the breeze. It had obviously been worn many times and the edges of the robe were beginning to fray. Amber had to repair them; she hadn't done anything much about her clothes in a while. 

The majority of her hair was loose, although some of it had been wound into braids. It didn't look too bad; she couldn't be bothered doing much with it. Her brown eyes still gazed down on the guards below. It would be a shame to take them out, but what had to be done had to be done. It wasn't her best day for fighting, but she was still willing to give it a shot in any case.

Her smile grew into a smirk as she regained control of the ancient magical powers that ran through her blood so freely. She flexed her right hand, looking at it happily as she felt herself connecting with the magic again. Her smile widened as she saw her hand glow. The power became somewhat of an addiction sometimes and that was why she did not want to transform very often. She did not want to become dependent on her magical power to get her out of tough situations. 

She had to learn to rely on herself, but today was a day that warranted the use of magic, because at any given moment, the sun would fully set and the phoenix's identity would become known. Amber knew that she had to finish this quickly. She only had a couple of minutes left before the phoenix's transformation began. She could not allow that to happen. She could not allow them to be seen. It was now or never. This probably wouldn't take very long anyway.

The phoenix-girl stood there, her green eyes wide open with fear. She was grateful that her guardian had come to her aid, but she didn't want Amber risking her life. She always did that, and she'd always risked her life so many times before.

Amber's hands came together and then separated a few inches. A glowing ball of energy appeared between her hands. She breathed a sigh and let the energy expand and warble around between her hands for a couple of minutes, giving the guards a head start. The guards had taken off running down the streets with their swords still on the ground where they formerly had been. Amber watched them run and muttered under her breath, "Cowards." 

She began flying forward at a relatively fast pace and she saw them duck around a corner, obviously hoping to lose her within the twisting and winding paths of the alleyways of the city. Not that that was likely to happen, but they could try. It would only make the pursuit that much more fun. She twisted her wings in the air and rotated her body to make it cleanly around the corner without crashing into anything. She was prone to doing that, she had been doing it a lot lately. That wasn't something that she liked to admit very much, she thought with a shaking head and closed eyes.

Amber was jerked back to reality when she crashed into a wall. A very unpleasant awakening, she thought. The guards were standing around the corner laughing as Amber pushed the bump on her head. The pain wasn't all that bad. She knocked her head all the time. It came from being clumsy at the worst of times. Amber grimaced at the guard and made a sarcastic face, mocking their laughing. The guards weren't offended in the least. Damn. She'd meant for them to be offended, but it hadn't worked. Darn. She had hoped it would.

She tossed the energy ball that was between her hands towards the corner and it made a big hole in the mudstone and shot through to the other end. Amber poked her head around the corner to see the three horrified faces of the guards. Ah... revenge was absolute bliss. She smiled, waved, and watched the three guards hightail it out of there. Should she stay or should she go? It wouldn't really be worth the effort, but it was still fun either way, no matter what she did. Amber had a strange sense of fun. 

Her head extended a little further and she watched them run down the long street. She could easily catch up with them in seconds, but she was going to be nice to them now. It was only fair, and besides, she had already used her energy ball. Maybe she could create another one. Energy was quite easy to replenish. Injuries were more annoying to heal. Amber tapped her foot against the ground for a few moments while staring at the sky. She thought back to the phoenix. Wait! The phoenix! How could she have been so careless?!

The phoenix's transformation was due any minute now, and Amber had been caught up in fighting. Of all the stupid things to do... she didn't have much time now. She'd have to hurry. Amber didn't like using her light travel, but now it seemed like she would have to. She'd gotten herself into this... she was becoming so insolent now. She was meant to be a guardian for heaven's sake! A GUARDIAN! She should be acting more like what someone with her duties should have been. Oh the horror, what would her father say? Correction: have said. She kept forgetting... her father was gone now and it was only her, her brother, and the phoenix in that tower in the Harisryu desert.

Her brother would probably be causing lots of trouble right about now. She had to get back to Harisryu region as soon as possible. Oh damn... another trip for the light travelling...

Amber closed her eyes, calmed her breathing, slowed her heart rate and began to breathe deeply. It was a bit like she was meditating, it seemed that way, but it actually wasn't. Amber focused on the inner light that glimmered deep within her and she pictured it within her mind. She pictured herself submerging within the light, becoming nothing more than a spirit. Amber felt herself drifting off on a tangent with her thoughts sometimes, and she struggled to stay with her constant line of thought. She had to stay on track to become the light. There wasn't too much left to do now. All she had left to do was actually becoming the light. It didn't sound very difficult, but sometimes, things are harder than they seem.

All of a sudden, Amber's body disappeared and she transformed into a small cache of sparkling white light. She directed herself toward the guards: she had to wipe their minds of what the phoenix's human form looked like. Amber sped through walls, and the linen that hung up in the alleyways to dry. There wasn't far to go now. A simple glance behind her told her that they weren't behind and she knew that they were in front of her. Amber concentrated on becoming in her body again and her wish complied. She was back in her body within seconds.

Amber peeked her head around the corner and saw the shaking guards. An evil smile came across her face. "Hello," she said, her smile widening. Her delight only increased when she saw all three guards faint.

=-=-=-=-=

The phoenix had long since changed into her nightly form when Amber got back. Amber's eyes narrowed. "You know that I told you to stay at the tower," Amber said. "Why didn't you listen to me?"

The phoenix flinched. She had been expecting something like this. There would be a time where her guardian's rage would just snap. She knew that her guardian had to put up with a lot of trouble from her. The phoenix decided to make a better effort next time so that she wouldn't be seen. She stayed silent.

"Oh, so that's how you're going to be, is it?!" Amber said again, more louder this time. "I don't want you leaving the tower again."

The phoenix opened her mouth to protest, but Amber cut her off before she could speak.

"You're lucky that you're not with Satu. He would have let you die. You know that don't you?"

The phoenix nodded, her gaze sinking to the ground.

"I expect better behaviour from you in the future."

"Okay..." the phoenix said in a barely audible tone.

Amber watched the phoenix for a few moments before speaking again. "Let's go then... Sakura."

+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+

"You'll never guess what just happened!" A young girl cried, running into the room.

"What is it, Kaze?" the girl's mother replied. She looked up from where she was reading a book and gazed at her daughter.

Kaze's eyes squinted as she tried to read the title of the book that her mother was reading, and then her face fell. Her mother had been reading that book for sometime over the past few days, and it was of that result that Kaze couldn't talk to her mother much anymore. It annoyed her a little...

"Again, what is it, Kaze?" her mother asked. She was getting a little impatient with her daughter, as she was nearly onto something with the phoenix mystery that was going around the town. There had been at least six sightings of the mystical bird that evening, and that was within half an hour. Think about how many unregistered sightings there would be. Maybe they could all be linked... it was exciting. If she could uncover this mystery, she would certainly go down in history. It was rumoured that the phoenix also had a human form, but there had never been any evidence to confirm this.

"I saw the phoenix today," Kaze said.

"You did, Kaze? Tell me, what did this phoenix look like?" her mother asked.

Kaze walked over to her mother's table and looked down at the book she was holding. "Um… it looked like..." she pointed to a picture on one of the pages, "that."

The mother's eyes widened. Her daughter, why, her _daughter_ had seen the phoenix. "Kaze, was there anything else?"

Kaze's face scrunched up in concentration. "Um... yeah... there was also this girl, I think it was a girl, yeah, a girl with blue wings. I didn't see what she looked like much though. I was looking at the phoenix."

"Okay. Thanks, Kaze. You can go now."

Kaze's face fell. "Mum... um... can you play with me?"

"I'm sorry, honey, I'm busy. Tell you what, I'll play with you later, okay?"

"Like never," Kaze mumbled as she left the room.

=-=-=-=-=

"Mummy won't play with me anymore..." Kaze mumbled to herself as she threw herself down on her bed. "Stupid phoenix..." She buried her face in her covers and didn't bother wiping away the tears that flowed freely down her face. "That phoenix ruins everything..."

"You want to get rid of the phoenix?" a voice asked.

Kaze looked up from her covers to see a cloaked man standing in the corner of her room. With a trembling voice, she asked, "What do you want?"

"To help you," he replied.

"I don't need any help..." Kaze said. Her eyes were shimmering with tears, the fear evident on her face.

"Yes you do. You want to be rid of the phoenix so that you can see your mother again for what she truly is. You want your mother back, don't you Kaze?"

"How do you know my name?"

"I just do Kaze. Answer the question. Will you come with me or not?"

"No."

"Wrong answer," the man said as he walked forward and grabbed her arm in an iron-like grip. He pulled her towards the corner of the room.

Kaze's last cries before she vanished were, "Mummy!!"

Meanwhile, downstairs, Kaze's mother's head had jerked up as she heard her little girl's cries. "Kaze!" she cried while running up the stairs, only to find that when she reached her little girl's bedroom: Kaze was gone.

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To be continued...

Well? Bad, crappy? Good? I hope it was okay. Chapters for **Wishing Well **and **Footprints in the Sand **will be up soon. Guaranteed. Anyhow...

Review if you want to.

--Kaiwawata


	2. Spiral of Doubt

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Disclaimer: I don't own CCS. I never have and I never will. However, I do own this plot, so please! No taking!

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Summary: Doomed to spending life with two faces, Kinomoto Sakura doesn't experience happiness very often. By day, she spends life as a human. By night, she becomes a phoenix. All seems dim, but there's always hope... right?

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Special thanks to:

Kai: Thank you! Talk to ya on MSN sometime soon. It was good talking to you yesterday. It had been a while, ne? Anyway, Kai, enjoy the cahpter. ^_^

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mycherrywolf: Hi, MCW. I'm glad you liked the chapter. And I'll catch up to you someday! I swear, I will! After about another 400 posts... --;; Oh well, I'm narrowing in! Beware! *evil laugh* *cough cough* Okay, WAY too much sugar today... O.o Enjoy the chapter.

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Enchantress Azure: FT! XD Hiiii!!! I kinda feel sorry for Kaze too. Anyway, she makes a new friend in this chapter, so she'll be okay. I hope... thank you _so_ much for your help this chapter! I couldn't have finished it without you. I'm really grateful. Thank you! *glomps*

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Notes: Nothing much to say, so I'll leave you with: Enjoy!

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Rising of the Phoenix: Melody ~ Chapter Two

Kaze sniffled a little, bringing her hands down from her face and wiping across her eye with the back of her hand. All around her were brick walls. Literally, she was in a dungeon. Her hands went to cover her eyes again. She wanted to be any place other than here. Heck, even boring school would have been fine! But no, she was stuck here because that man, or at least she thought it had been a man, had brought her here. What she would give to be away from this place.

Kaze made to move, but instead she huddled up in one of the corners of the dungeon. "Mummy..." she mumbled to herself, "I wish you were here..." Kaze brought her knees up to her chest. "I don't know what to do now, Mummy. What would you do if you were here? I know what you would do; you'd go beat up that bad man. You'd be able to too, Mummy. I know you would. I just wish that you could see me now, Mummy, to stop you worrying about me. I don't wanna hurt you, Mummy. I don't wanna make you cry... I don't wanna make you sad, but please, Mummy, be okay..." Kaze whispered the words, her brown eyes raised to the stone ceiling. "Be all right..." she whispered again.

"Very touching."

Kaze shivered involuntarily again. It was that man, she knew it was. Forever and for always, she again would always remember that voice. That familiar cold voice with the tone that just sent shivers down her spine and made her shudder and shake constantly. She had had a strange feeling the first night that she had known him from somewhere before, but she hadn't dared to ask. She had been too intimidated by him, by his appearance... everything about him seemed to send her into darkness. She had no idea why though.

"You want to see your mother again, don't you, Kaze?"

Kaze gave no answer, but instead looked away from the man, her eyes still fearful, her body still shaking like mad. She was speaking no words to him. It was as if her voice were lost. She did not have the gift of speech anymore, or so it appeared.

"Aren't you going to answer me, Kaze?"

Kaze still stayed silent, but her eyes went back to the man.

"Like it or not, you're still going to be staying here."

"So be it," Kaze mumbled.

+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+

"It looks like you screwed up big time, eh?" Satu said, walking through the doors of the tower. Laying on the bed was the phoenix in her human form. "Come on, Kinomoto, it can't have been that bad, eh? I know Amber can be a bit of a windbag sometimes, eh, but you've just gotta learn to put up with her." Satu grinned and tossed some dried apple chips into his mouth. "Sorry I wasn't there for you earlier, mate, but I had to go get some food. Can't go hungry now, can we?"

Sakura cracked a smile. "Yeah. Amber was pretty grumpy, but I guess she had a right to be this time."

"This time? What did you do?" Satu asked, still munching on apple chips. "It can't have been as worse as the time when you decided to go flying with the birdies, fell out of the air, and went missing for three days. Amber was having an absolute fit over you that week, you know."

Sakura looked down. "Yeah, I know. I'm lucky to have her. Without her, I'd be dead, that much I know. She's done so much for me, and she always does. No offence meant, Satu, but you don't exactly do much, either around her or to help protect me."

Satu shrugged and grinned good-naturedly. "Ah... what can I say? My sister's better than I am. I knew that a long time ago. Papa would be very proud of her if he was still alive."

"Yeah, I bet he would be," Sakura murmured. "Bt I can't help but wonder what things would have been like if he were still alive."

"Things would be different," Satu stated, eating more apple chips.

"That much is for certain." Sakura said as she looked back up at Satu. "Do you miss him?"

Satu shrugged again. "Don't know. Sometimes I guess."

"I bet you do," Sakura said.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Satu said. "I guess I miss the old fella a bit sometimes."

"He did so much for us," Sakura said. "Amber's doing a great job, but there are just some things that I can't talk to her about. It's hard, you know." She cast her gaze down, feeling a little bad about saying those things about Amber to Satu, but she was only speaking the truth.

"Yeah, I know..." Satu said, settling into thought for a while. He guessed that he hadn't really been thinking much about the past or his deceased family lately. It wasn't really in Satu's nature to reflect. He preferred to live in the moment. But the phoenix had really got him thinking this time. The words that she had said, the conversation that she had had with him, it would have even got Amber, what with her logical ways and such, pondering about what was really going on.

Sakura watched Satu's facial expression change, become more distant. She knew that maybe some stuff that she had said would make him think, but in all her eyes of knowing Satu, she had never considered the possibility that he would think this much. Sakura stared at the young teenager's face for a few more moments. She opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly thought better of it. Maybe it was best to keep quiet for now.

=-=-=-=-=

"I wish that you were here, Papa," Amber whispered quietly as she lay down on the bed. "The phoenix is getting so unruly now. Sometimes I just don't know what to do with her. I know that you'd set her straight, Papa. She always obeyed whatever you said to her, yet she completely ignores what I say. I'm confused, Papa. I don't know what to do anymore. You said that I was the only offspring of yours that had a level head and that's why I took over your duties as guardian when you passed away. I understand my role and responsibility, Papa, but you left such big shoes to fill when you died. I just don't know if I can do as good as you did. I want to, Papa, I really do, but it's hared. I feel so bad sometimes, like a slouch. I feel like I'm not firm enough. What's going wrong, Papa? Am I not confident enough?"

Amber rolled over on her bed. She was in her normal human form, eyes closed and her mind restless. She was being kept awake by these incessant thoughts that kept coming and absolutely refused to go, She needed to sleep, she wanted to, but she found that she just couldn't. At least, not with herself in a state like this. There was going to be a lot of exhaustion for her in the morning, and the hot air, wind and temperature coming from the desert weren't making things any easier. She guessed that it came from living in the Harisryu region.

Sweat drenched her forehead and down her back to where her hair was damp and matted. Tendrils of blond hair were everywhere and every breath that Amber drew in; she made herself feel even more sick. This wasn't helping her at all. She needed to get out of here, or get away from this, from her responsibilities.

Amber needed to see or hear from her father again. She wasn't feeling her best. If only... but it probably wasn't meant to be. Otherwise, she would have seen him already. Maybe it was time to give up hope. _No!_ she thought. Her father had been all about persevering when times were tough, and he had been one of the strongest people that she had ever known.

She had to draw from his strength, be like him. He was her inspiration, so now she needed to use it. She was certain that she would find a way to get through this.

She knew she would.

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"You need to eat something."

Meiling lifted her head. "My daughter goes missing and you tell me that I need to eat something?! Haven't I been through enough already today?!" She waved a hand at Fei Mei. "I'll be fine. I just need some peace and quiet."

"Cousin, I know that you're missing Kaze, and we will help you find her, but what use will you be to anyone if you're so weak that you can't help? Syaoran is looking for her as we speak. You need to have patience." Fei Mei sat down on the bed and put a hand on Meiling's shoulder, offering out the bowl. "You need to keep your strength up."

Meiling looked at her cousin with tear-stained eyes. "I just can't believe she's gone." She looked down at the ground. "I was so absorbed in finding out about that damned phoenix. I should have been with her. I should have done something to protect her. My baby, my baby's gone." A few tears leaked out of her eyes. "I'm going to personally kill whoever took her when I find them. They're going to pay."

Fei Mei shook her head. "Violence doesn't do anything, Meiling. You should know that already. It only makes things worse. Remember how it was with -"

Meiling cut her off, "Don't mention that. I don't want to hear it. That was painful enough without having to bring it up again. You hear me, Fei Mei, I don't want to talk about it and that's that."

Fei Mei closed her mouth. "Okay, but make sure you eat. I'll call you from downstairs if Syaoran comes in with any news."

Meiling nodded silently, not speaking. She didn't want to think anymore, the disbelief and memories were still too raw.

=-=-=-=-=

"Is she going to be all right?" Fan Ran asked.

Fei Mei was coming downstairs. "She's still in shock," she said to her sisters. "We really need to find Kaze, and fast. I don't know how long Meiling is going to be able to last like this. She seems depressed. I'm not used to Meiling being depressed. Usually she's the fiery one that never has a dull mood. Now she's had a complete switch, and I'm getting worried about her."

"We just have to keep caring for her, and make sure that she keeps her strength up," Fuutie stated. She gazed at her three sisters. "Someone keep a watch out for Syaoran. He should be here soon. He promised that he would be back here by four and it's almost that time now. Xie Fa, would you be able to do that?"

Xie Fa nodded her head. "Done."

"I can keep watching over Meiling," offered Fei Mei.

"You do that," Fuutie said. "Meanwhile, I'm going to go pay a visit to Mama."

"Okay, but be back in an hour," Fan Ran called out as Fuutie left through the door.

"Will do!" Fuutie opened the gate to the property and left.

"I'll go back upstairs," Fei Mei said. "Meiling wants to be left alone, but I'll be in the room next door doing some sewing. Fan Ran, could you go to the market and get some food supplies? We're running a bit low."

"Okay, I'll do that," Fan Ran said.

Fei Mei smiled and went upstairs.

They needed news of Kaze, and quickly. Meiling wasn't going to last long.

+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+

"Has there been any news at all?"

Syaoran winced as he heard his mother's voice. He turned to face her, his brown eyes hard. "No, there's been none."

Yelan looked down on her son. "Have you been looking for her?" she asked.

"Of course I've been looking for Kaze! Meiling is sick with worry about her little girl. I'd do anything for them at the moment. My sisters are with her, aren't they?" Syaoran pressed on. "They're looking after Meiling?"

Yelan nodded. "Yes, they are. But knowing Meiling, she won't want to stick around and do nothing for long. I want you to tell us of any news that you have of Kaze, understand?"

Syaoran nodded. "Very well." He looked at his mother, his eyes narrowed slightly. "Do you have any idea where she might be?"

"Look around the Harisryu region."

Syaoran cocked his head. "There? But that's a desert region. Why would she be there?"

"Things happen for the strangest reasons, Syaoran. Something is telling me that she is there and that is where I would like you to look for her. Is that all right?"

"Fine..." Syaoran mumbled. He had always listened to his mother's intuition before and she was usually right with her shrewd guesses. "I'll send Ako back if I see anything."

+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+

It was night-time and Sakura was in her phoenix form, laying on the bed curled up. She should have been sleeping by now, but restless thoughts were keeping her awake also. She could sense that Amber had the same problem. It wasn't often that she sensed a weak side to her guardian, and she was starting to get a little concerned about the girl.

Sakura's eyes closed and a tear formed in one of her eyes and dripped down the feathers of her face. She wanted out of here now. She knew that she had promised Satu that she wouldn't leave and get in trouble again, but she was hearing a particularly sorrowful cry from the city that she had been in earlier in her human form. She felt like she had to answer the call, like she was obliged to.

Sakura opened her eyes, got up from her bed and went to the window. She looked over at the other side of the room and watched Satu for a few moments. He was still sleeping thank goodness. She would have a relatively easy escape then.

Sakura went to the window and pecked at the lock with her beak. It opened easily and Sakura nudged at the window with her head to open it. It swung open with a loud creak and Sakura winced as she craned her head around to see if Satu had woken up. Luckily for her, he seemed to be a deep sleeper.

Sakura stepped up onto the window sill and looked down. There was enough room for her to jump out and flap her wings a few times before wheeling off into the night. Luckily it was a night when there was a lot of wind. The breeze ruffled her feathers as she jumped out, and with a few powerful beats of her wings, she was flying off into the night and away from the tower.

=-=-=-=-=

Meanwhile, Amber had awoken to the sound of the creak, and she had instantly known what had happened. Running through to Sakura and Satu's room, Amber found the phoenix's bed empty and Satu still sleeping peacefully. The window was open. Amber groaned out loud. They were really in trouble this time. She stormed over to her brother's bed and shook him awake violently, a look of unrestrained rage on her face. She was about ready to transform! She was that annoyed with her brother.

Satu took a while to open his eyes, but when he finally did, he blinked a few times sleepily and rubbing one hand across his right eye, he asked, "Amber, what' wrong? Why did you have to wake me up this early in the morning? You'll wake up Sakura."

Amber was seething. "If you noticed, Sakura is _gone_. She's flown away."

"Why would she have done that?" Satu asked. He was fully awake now. "I don't know, but you're gonna help me track her down. Time for you to transform."

"Me? Why? You know that I hate transforming. It hurts, and I can't even control it," Satu complained.

"Deal with it, otherwise you'll be the one that I vent my temper out on," Amber threatened. "So transform now."

"Fine," Satu grumbled.

There were corresponding low glows of cyan and fire alike. Amber had ice, wind, energy and water to call to do her bidding; Satu controlled fire, earth, wind and energy also. Both guardians had a similar dress, but Satu's robes were pale yellow with red trimming. Braids were wound all throughout his long brown hair and his brown eyes were the same colour as Amber's.

Amber walked to the window first. "You head to the city, Satu, and I'll take care of the rest of the region. You don't have the light travelling ability and I do. I'm depending on you to not go off and eat food. I want you staying in your guardian form. Anyway, the guards are scared of me already, and if they see someone looking remotely like me, then they'll start running away like cowards."

"I can see why," Satu mumbled.

"What was that?" Amber accused.

"Nothing... don't worry..." Satu grumbled.

Amber narrowed her eyes at her brother. She would have to keep an eye on him. Besides, he usually caused a lot of trouble anyway.

+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+

"Come on kid, you've got to eat something."

Kaze looked up and was startled to see something that looked vaguely like a stuffed toy floating into the room holding a plate. Her eyes widened. She had seen the phoenix before, but she had never seen something like this. She scrambled a bit closer and grabbed the animal in her hands before prodding and poking him, seeing if he was real.

When he yelled, she knew that he was and it took her by surprise. She ended up dropping the thing and it bounced to the floor.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Kaze cried in surprise. She picked it up again and cuddled it to her. "I'm so sorry..." she whispered. "It's just that this place is really scary and I don't like being here alone."

"Hey, it's okay, kid. None of us like being alone," the stuffed animal said. "What's your name?"

"Kaze. Li Kaze," Kaze answered. "And what's your name?"

"Keroberos, guardian of -" he cut himself off. It looked like he was a bit uncomfortable about what he was guarding. Either that or he didn't want that freaky man to hear.

"Can I call you Kero?" Kaze asked.

The stuffed animal smiled a little bit. "Sure, you can."

Kaze smiled back, feeling, for the first time since she had arrived at this horrible place, a little bit happier. "I think we're going to get along just fine, Kero."

"Yeah, I think so too," Kero grinned.

+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+

Sakura hunched back near a rock-face that she was hiding under. Amber was closing in on her presence; she could sense her from where she was now. Sakura had tried everything to hide her aura, but she hadn't been able to. Something was going wrong; she had to learn that skill. She had known that Satu had tried to teach her one time, but she hadn't been very good at learning at all.

Sakura saw Amber fly over head, not noticing where she was at all. Sakura watched her guardian fly past and then well after she was gone; Sakura took to the air again.

She had to answer that call. She just _had_ to.

__

To be continued...

God, I love those words. To be continued... bliss.

It means that I can take a bit more time before I upload the next chapter. Currently I have about three or four fanfics going at the same time. I think there's Melody (this one), Wishing Well, Footprints in the Sand, and Regretting Looking Behind.

Anyhow...

Review if you want to.

--Kari


	3. Transformation of Hope

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Disclaimer: I don't own CCS. I never have and I never will. However, I do own this plot, so please! No taking!

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Summary: Doomed to spending life with two faces, Kinomoto Sakura doesn't experience happiness very often. By day, she spends life as a human. By night, she becomes a phoenix. All seems dim, but there's always hope... right?

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Notes: Nothing much to say, so I'll leave you with: Enjoy!

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Rising of the Phoenix: Melody

"She's gone, dammit!" Amber yelled at her brother when she arrived back at the tower to see him lying on the bed, doing nothing. "Why aren't you helping me?! You've always been the lazy one, and you always will be. You're not helping me at all and if this phoenix dies, we'll die too! Remember, our family's blood is linked to that phoenix, and it's going to be sun-up soon, and she'll be changing into her human form, and ARGH! This is giving me a headache! I wish you'd help me more. We can't go searching for her now, because if we find her, take her away in the middle of a crowd, they'd all know what her human form looks like, and we can't have that! What are we going to _do_?! Geez, help me out here!"

Satu rolled over and gazed at his sister. He was still in his guardian form, though he disliked it a lot, but he thought it best, because he didn't like having his sister's rage all over him. It looked like she was going to yell a lot now, so maybe he should just tell her what he had heard some people in the town saying. It wasn't like she was going to find out anytime soon. Besides, maybe she would calm down a little bit more if she knew what was going on. Yeah right. She would be yelling and yelling and yelling until she couldn't yell anymore. That was just the way she was. Geez... this was going to be a real nightmare until they found Sakura.

"Why don't you just give it up for now?" Satu asked. "There's plenty now that we can do, and even if you didn't sense her aura at all, she won't be able to hold it in for long. Considering how crazy you went last time when she disappeared, it's not surprising that she's hiding. I don't know why she left, but she probably had a reason for it. She usually does. Give her time and she will come back. It's no use going out there and getting seen all the time, because you'll just end up having more people looking for her, and we'll all be in trouble. Especially if they figure out that her human form is weaker that her phoenix form. She's immortal in her phoenix, not so immortal in her human form. She has feelings too, and I bet that she got some funny feelings and felt that she had to let them out somewhere that wasn't here. We never know what's going on in her mind, Amber, and we never will. It's part of who she is, and who we are."

Amber listened to what Satu said, not intruding, giving him the same respect that he had given her when she had been talking, but now that she listened to his mini speech, what he was saying made some sense. They shouldn't go out looking for her now; it was way too risky. But when the sun went down again, she would be out searching. By god, she would definitely be out searching.

When she got a hold of Sakura again, there were going to be lectures like never before, and Amber was going to include Satu in on these as well, as she never disciplined him much. She just got so sick of constantly harassing the boy to do even the most simple things. Doing some cleaning of dishes that were used, or even a little bit of cooking on the odd occasion would be appreciated, but it seemed that Satu wouldn't do it. He just wouldn't. It infuriated her so much sometimes...

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Amber said with a wave of her hand, indicating that she didn't really care about what he had said. "I've heard it all before, and I'm going to go out looking for her again later and you won't be able to stop me."

Satu shook his head sadly. His sister really could be so impatient sometimes... It was probably going to be her downfall when she faced some even half-decent opponents in any magical battles. She could never wait for the right time to strike. She liked to get right into the middle of things and mix everything up so that no one knew what was coming next. It either made her the strongest in the game of tactics... or the weakest. It all depended on whom she was fighting. Satu knew her moves inside and out though, so she wouldn't be much of a challenge to him.

"Your arrogance will be your downfall, Amber," he murmured as she stormed out of the room.

+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. Her guardians had gone back to the tower, obviously because of the coming morning. Soon she would be back in her human form... and stranded. She had banked herself on an island in the middle of a lake that had a big overhang. It was large enough to conceal her phoenix form for a few moments, but it was getting uncomfortable and she yearned to stretch her wings.

Peeking her head outside the safety of the overhang, Sakura could see that both sides of the horizon were clear, and other from a few birds and animals creeping around, going to bed, and quietly waking up, there were no other humans or guardians nearby. She breathed a sigh of relief and took to the sky again, grateful to the guardians that she had.

It wasn't often at all that she had this freedom in her phoenix form at all. Noting the rising sun, Sakura soared towards the edge of the lake, landing on the sand. The sky was streaked with red, orange, purple, and the remnants of the dark sky that had been littered with stars in the cold brisk night. It had been clear, not a cloud in the sky, and Sakura had been enjoying the cool breeze that had blown all throughout the night. It had made it easier for her to glide on the wind, as it had been coming from behind her, making it that much simpler for her to manoeuvre around and change direction.

Soon the sun would be fully risen, and Sakura would change into her human form. She quickly landed with the couple of minutes that she had. Breathing a sigh of relief, she was finally able to relax and take in the scenery. Then began the painful process of turning back into a human. She hated this transformation.

Within moments, she was human again. She recalled what she looked like. Green eyes and brown hair... quite plain. She had seen lots of people with her colouring. Then again, she guessed that Clow had made her look like that to fit in so she wouldn't be suspected.

She guessed that it had been a good idea. On his part anyway.

She just wished that she were able to do more and not be such a burden to her protectors. But that hardly looked like it was going to be true, so she just did what she could and began running towards the town.

+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+

Syaoran saw little pinpricks of light starting to gather in the sky again and he gritted his teeth. Someone was casting a spell again. It had been on and off like that for the past two hours now and he was getting sick of it. Constant day and night, day and night. It was enough to drive him crazy.

Nevertheless, he had to keep his cool.

Meiling was depending on him to find Kaze. Heck, even he wanted to see his little cousin again. Though he wasn't directly related to her, everyone knew Kaze. She was the kind of little girl who everyone wanted, and Syaoran had always been rather fond of her. Now she had gone missing.

What would someone want with her? She was only little, and she couldn't do much anyway. Unless there was some ulterior motive that they weren't aware of yet... No, that wasn't possible. Meiling had never told anyone else, and they didn't know who Kaze's father was. Meiling just said that he had died a long time ago. He had left her before Kaze had been born and he was now dead to her.

Syaoran could see why.

Meiling had held a grudge for many years now, and it wasn't likely that even if the father turned up at all, she wouldn't let him see Kaze.

From what Meiling had told his sisters, Kaze had come in while Meiling had been looking up the phoenix, and had wanted to play. Naturally, because she was busy, Meiling had told Kaze to go up to her room and promised that she would play later. Then, only minutes later, Meiling had heard Kaze's scream, dropped everything that she had been doing and rushed upstairs, only to find that her daughter was gone.

It was all a bit strange.

However, he had to keep on moving, otherwise he wouldn't be able to find anything.

__

To be continued...

Short. I seem to have short updates today. God, this is horrible... Oh well, I guess I'll have to deal with it, and make sure that I give everyone a nice long chapter for all my stories next time. Thank you for your reviews! See ya!

Review if you want to.

--Kari


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